Door-hanger track-rail



(Ifo Model.)

M. MQCAWLEY & A. T. KINGSLEY.

DOOR HANGER TRACK RAIL, TRACK RAIL JOINT, AND TRACK RAIL BRACKET.

Patented Nov. 27, 1894.

m a: U B I} A TTOHNE Y.

UNITED STATES P TENT. OFFICE.

MARTIN MoOAWLEY AND ALBA'T. k

ONE-THIRD TO JOHN INGSLEY, OF MILLPORT, ASSIGNORS OF B. STANOHFIELD, OFELMIRA, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,052, dated November27, 1894.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, MARTIN MoOAWLEY and ALBA T. KINGSLEY, of Millport,in the county of Chemung and State of New York,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Door-Hanger Track Rails,Track Rail Joints, andTrack-Rail Brackets; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of said inven- IOtion, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and tothe'letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Our invention relates to the rail and sup- 1 5 ports for doorhangers,wherein the latter carry a wheel and are attached to a barn orother sliding door, and our improvements have particular reference tothe construction of the rail for the wheel and its joint, and thebracket for supporting the rail which is usually located along and overa door opening. Such rails are preferably made in lengths of six, eightand ten feet, which are to be fitted end to end when a total distance tobe traveled is greater than the length of the longest rail made.

It is the object of our invention to provide a rail construction bymeans of which rivets are dispensed with at the joint which we 0 prefershall occur at a point between two brackets.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved bracketwhich shall firmly and steadily support the rail without the use 5 ofrivets, solder or other external means.

, To these ends, our invention consists in the construction andcombination of parts substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation showing one completesection of the rail, and a portion of another jointed to it, and threebrackets. Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1, and showing also adoor hanger 5 in place on the rail. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspectiveView of the bracket, prior to the final bending of one of the lips. Fig.4 is an enlarged perspective View of the right hand end of one railsection and the left hand end Application filed January 16,1894. SerialNo. 497.071. (N0 model.)

of the next section separated from each other, r

or the said figure may be understood as representing the two ends of asingle section.

Similar referenceletters indicate corresponding parts in the severalviews.

A represents the bracket composed of a strip of metal, such as mildsteel, split or divided centrally from its attaching end, through thegreater portion of its length, the material each side-of the out beingbent to form legs a diverging from each other and having attaching feeta. The front end of the strip has two short slits and is bent to formtwo upwardly-extending lips a a and a central, wider, tongue or lip aEach section of rail B is provided with a series of slots 6, accordingto the number of brackets to be used in supporting each section, andsaid rail is an angular one, having a flange b at its lower edge, seeFig. 2, whereby a light rail may be employed and yet have all'thenecessary strength. The slots 1) are formed close to-said flange.

\Vhen the bracket and rail are secured together the central lip ortongue at of the former is passed through the slot 1) and then bent upon the outside of the rail, while the lips a of, rest against the innerside of the rail, thus steadying and firmly clamping it on two sides.The flange b of the rail is held closely against the under side of thebracket strip throughout the entire width of the latter, and aids inimmovably confining the parts, which are interlocked and secured withoutthe use of rivets or bolts. It will be observed that no portion of theattaching arms of the bracket passes through the slot. Hence a wheelwith wide flanges will ride along the rail without contact with sucharm.

The rail joint will now be described: The right hand end of each sectionhas its flange 0 I) cut away as at 19 and its upright portion alsoslightly reduced in height to a distance about twice the length of thecut-away portion of the flange. The projecting end has two verticalslits b b and one of the result- 5 ing lips 22 is bent or olfsetslightly to the front, and the other lip is bent or ofl-set slightly tothe rear from avertical line below slit b. The left hand end of eachsection has its flange I) cut away at 1) similar to the part b at theother end, and about midway of the height of the upright portion thereis a horizontal slit U, at the inner end of which is a short verticalslit 12 The resulting lip l) is bent or ofi-set slightly to the rear.

Two sections are joined as follows: The two ends are lapped over eachother with the top of lip 11 opposite and behind the space below thelower end of lip I). Then, by a slight rocking and sliding movement, thetop of lip b is brought under and then up in front of lip b the lip bpassing behind the rail section beyond slit 19 This brings the ends ofthe flanges b and the top of the vertical portions of the rails oppositeeach other and in line so they may abut. When the sections are sojoined, and as long as they remain in the same plane, being steadied bythe bracket lips, they cannot become separated, as will be obvious fromthe illustrations; nor can one have any movement independent of theother. Of course, the relative formations of the rail ends may bereversed; that is, the right hand ends may be formed as the drawingsillustrate the left hand ends, and the left hand ends formed as thedrawings illustrate the right hand ends. Either arrangement permits ofan interlocking of the ends and a secure connection without the use ofrivets, bolts, s lder, or other auxiliary means.

It is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the preciseform of interlocking lips shown and described.

Having now described our invention, what we claim is- 1. A door hangertrack-rail composed of flanged sections having a portion of theirmeeting ends oft-set and overlapping each other, with the ends of theflanges and the remaining portions of the rail ends abutting againsteach other and bringing the tread surfaces of adjoining sections inline, substantially as described.

2. A door hanger rail section adapted to form one section of a track andhaving a vertical portion and a flange at an angle thereto, one end ofthe section being partially cut away and having the projecting portionoffset laterally from the line of tread so as to overlap the oppositeend of another section, and means for interlocking with the overlappingend of said other section, the portions which are cut away permittingtwo sections to be interlocked with the treads in alignment,substantially as described.

3. A door hanger track rail section having one end provided with the twoupwardlyextending lips, (9 b offset in reverse directions, and the otherend provided with the downwardly-extending offset lip b", substantiallyas described.

4. Arivetless jointed track rail and bracket for door hangers,comprising the flanged sections of rail having a portion of theirmeeting ends oit-set and overlapping each other, with the ends of theflanges and the remaining portions of the rail ends abutting againsteach other and bringing the tread surfaces of adjoining sections inline, eachsection being provided with one or more horizontal slots oropenings, and the supporting bracketseach of which has a tongue or lippassed through one of said rail openings and bent up on one side of therail and two side lips bent up on the other side of said rail, wherebythe rail is clinched securely between said lips, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof we affix oursignatures in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

MARTIN MGOAWLEY. L. s. ALBA 'r. KINGSLEY. L. s.

Witnesses:

DEXTER WHITE, 0. W. SLEEPER.

